


First Day of School (And Luke's Afterlife Crisis)

by avatays



Series: Ray Molina's Home for Wayward Musicians [2]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bobby | Trevor Wilson Redemption, Carrie Wilson Knows That The Phantoms Are Ghosts, Carrie Wilson Redemption, Ghosts, Idiots in Love, Mentioned Bobby | Trevor Wilson, Mentioned Flynn (Julie and The Phantoms), Pre-Relationship Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, i love carrie wilson and alex mercer being besties so expect that later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 22:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28838481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avatays/pseuds/avatays
Summary: Luke did not want to be going back to school. He's been convinced of it since they're running out of things to do during the way when Julie's at school. They've still got unfinished business, and the phantoms have no clue what it is, there's a chance it's at school — much to Luke's chagrin.Ray continues to be a helpful dad to the boys, and the first day of school at Los Feliz begins with a bombshell for the phantoms.
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Alex Mercer & Julie Molina & Ray Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters
Series: Ray Molina's Home for Wayward Musicians [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2110518
Comments: 10
Kudos: 96





	First Day of School (And Luke's Afterlife Crisis)

“Julie? Jules!” 

Julie came running down the stairs at her father’s voice. “Yeah?” 

“How do you normally get the boys to show up? I don’t know if I just can’t see them or if they left,” Ray told her, gesturing around the empty house.

“Oh, they’re usually in the studio, not in here. Just play something on one of their instruments, they’ll feel it and show up,” she said simply, walking back upstairs.

Ray sighed. “Sure. I’ll just touch ghost stuff.”

Luckily, he didn’t need to. He walked into the studio, and Reggie appeared with a gleeful “Hi, Ray!”

Ray jumped a bit beside himself. He would never get used to the sudden appearances whenever they wanted to be perceived. 

It was a bit weird to consider that they could constantly be around him and he wouldn’t know, but when he brought it up to Reggie at dinner one night, the boy had looked horrified. Alex hadn’t looked better, but Luke had laughed, saying, “We can teleport, why would we want to creep on you guys when we can go somewhere fun — no offense,” to which Carlos had nodded in agreement, and Ray couldn’t come up with a reason they would either. 

“Are the rest of the boys here?” Ray asked Reggie as he got further into the room. 

Alex and Luke popped in, but if they had been there the whole time waiting to be called on or if they had been somewhere else entirely, it wasn’t Ray’s business to ask. 

“Good, everyone’s home,” he said, sitting down on the couch, Reggie bounding beside him, humming a tune. “So I remembered how we discussed High School briefly, Alex, you said you missed it, right?” When Alex nodded, he continued, “Well, I called in a few favors, and you guys can start at Los Feliz in a few weeks, beginning of the next semester.”

Reggie gasped. “We’re gonna go to school with Julie? Oh man, that’s gonna be so fun—”

“Grades will come first though,” Ray interrupted, sensing Reggie wasn’t taking it seriously. 

Luke, who hadn’t said a word until this point, finally spoke up. “Why would grades matter? It’s not like we can go to college or anything. We’re just around for the band, it’s the only reason we haven’t moved on.”

Ray shrugged. “Maybe you’ve stuck around for more than that. You boys were so young... you probably had so much you wanted to do. Your unfinished business could be to complete some of those things. Maybe you can’t move on until you’ve had more time in this life.”

“Not a life,” Luke mumbled. 

“Yeah, maybe,” Alex chimed in, ignoring Luke’s grumbling. “I had a lot of regrets, things I wished I had done. Not finishing school was one. I had wanted to go to college, so maybe graduating will be enough for that part of my unfinished business.”

Ray smiled at him, and Alex gave a little half-upturned grin in return.

Ray could sense that Luke hadn’t been convinced yet, although his face had softened a bit at the thought of completing what could be what was holding them back. 

Reggie seemed to feel it too because he chimed in, “We may as well. We can practice with Julie at school during free periods, instead of just sitting around here waiting for her to come back.” 

“Julie’s still got two years until graduation, it’s not like we’ll have a lot else to do for two entire years just waiting on her five days of the week,” Alex added. “If our biggest unfinished business is signing a record deal, going on tour, all the things we wanted to do most before we died, then it still isn’t going to happen until Julie graduates.”

“That’s true,” Ray said. “Julie won’t be touring anywhere until she’s graduated, she and I have already discussed this.”

Luke sighed loudly, throwing his head back to stare at the ceiling, but Reggie smiled and gave Ray a thumbs up. Luke looked back down, still looking annoyed but more placated. “Fine. But can we at least join the music program? I don’t wanna take math again.”

“Unfortunately, you’ll still have to take math, it’s a state requirement,” Ray told him. “But music would be the bulk of the curriculum. I’ll set up auditions with the Principal Lessa, I can’t imagine they’d turn any of you down.” 

“How’d you get us in the system?” Alex asked. 

“Like I said, I called in a few favors.” When Alex raised an eyebrow, Ray held up his hands in surrender and added, “Alright, and Flynn added you to the registry with fake names. I didn’t know she could hack into the school’s systems, but apparently it was easy enough for her. If anyone asks, you’re foreign exchange students from Canada.”

“Is that illegal?” Reggie wondered, eyebrows drawn together.

“Not illegal. Against the rules, but not illegal.”

Luke shrugged. “Good enough for me.”

“Great! I’ll set up auditions for you guys, hopefully everything will be ready for you to start the semester with Julie in January.”

———

Auditions had come and gone and the three boys were accepted with ease; it didn’t hurt that Principal Letta and Mrs. Harrison had already seen the band perform before, and the school was eager to accept the entire band into the music program. 

The day before the semester was set to start, Ray could tell the boys were nervous. Alex was a bit more jumpy than usual, Luke had barricaded himself in the studio except for dinner, and Reggie was quiet — that last one terrified Ray to his core, making him realize how anxious the boys must be to be going to school for the first time in twenty-five years.

That night at dinner, he came to the table with three old smartphones. He handed one to each of the boys. Reggie made an excited sound as he stared at the phone, before eventually saying, “This is so cool! Thanks, Ray! What does it do?”

Ray looked at Julie questioningly, and Julie grimaced. “Cell phones weren’t really a thing last time they were around, and they never asked to see mine.”

Ray unlocked the phone and pointed out a few features, before opening the notes out and gesturing to it. “I’ve got all the details you’ll need for school in here, just to make sure you won’t forget anything.”

Alex and Luke followed Ray’s instructions as he explained the phones’ features, Luke saying, “So you’ve got our names but — wait, did you write us a script? Won’t it be weird if we’re reading off our phones to someone when we’re introducing ourselves?”

Reggie gasped excitedly. “No, we memorize it! Like actors!” Ray cleared his throat and read dramatically, “‘My name is Reggie Brown, I am a junior in the music program at Los Feliz. I was born in 2003. We are living with the Molinas as a part of a foreign exchange program until graduation. I am from Vancouver, Canada.’ Nice. I’ve never been to Canada.”

“Well don’t say _that_ when we meet people,” Alex sighed. “Good call on including the birth year.”

Ray nodded. “Just use your regular birth date but change the year, if anyone asks. Less to remember.” 

“‘Alex Lawson,’” Alex said, reading the name on his phone. “We’re keeping our fake names pretty common then?”

“Harder to track down a common name,” Carlos said through a mouthful of spaghetti. 

Luke sighed. “This is ridiculous. We’re like forty, why should we have to do math again?”

“You and math,” Julie mumbled. “You aren’t that old, you were stuck for an hour... that just happened to actually be a quarter of a century. Now suck it up—” she looked over his shoulder at the phone to read the note. “‘Luke Johnson.’”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Fine. But these music classes better be worth it.”

———

The first day of school was pretty normal — except for the fact that Luke felt like he was going to burst with nerves. It had been a long time since he had to introduce himself somewhere that wasn’t on a stage.

At the beginning of class, Mrs. Harrison said, “Before we start, I’d like to welcome our new students, you might recognize them as part of Julie’s band. If you could just introduce yourselves, we can get started.”

Luke leaned towards Julie and hissed in her ear, “Introduce ourselves how?”

“Name and what you play,” she responded. “Now go!” She grabbed his arm and lifted it in an attempt to get him to stand, which he did begrudgingly.

He coughed when he saw a few dozen students staring at him. “Um. Hi.” Why was he so nervous? He had played in front of crowds by the thousands, why were a bunch of people his age intimidating him? “I’m Luke... Johnson. I play guitar and sing. I, uh... we’re here from Canada, living with the Molinas.” He pointed towards Julie, who waved awkwardly.

He sat back down quickly, and nudged Alex, who stood up. “I’m Alex, I play drums.” 

He sat down, and when it became clear Reggie hadn’t been paying attention, Alex hit him lightly, and Reggie stood quickly, blurting out, “I’m from Canada!” Luke heard a snicker behind them and turned around to glare at the stranger, before Reggie finally gave his name and class continued smoothly.

The interesting part didn’t happen until after class, when Carrie told Julie she wanted to talk to her privately. Julie didn’t seem to be a fan of the idea, and right when Luke was about to step in, Alex goes, “Hey, you’re in Dirty Candy!” Of course, he knew that well, he had seen them perform before, but Carrie didn’t know that.

Carrie smiled widely. “Have you seen us?”

“Yeah, Julie speaks highly of... uh, your music, she’s shown me a few of your videos. My favorite’s All Eyes On Me.” Luke knew that Alex wasn’t even necessarily lying, Alex did actually really enjoy the music, if the dance routines he always joined in on were anything to go by.

Carrie looked strangely at Julie, saying, “She does?”

Julie pulled a noncommittal face, but nodded a little. 

Carrie’s smile faded. “Well... I still want to talk to you. Soon. There’s something I found out that I think we should discuss.” Her eyes flickered ever so quickly to the boys standing beside Julie, before going back to her. 

“Yeah... okay.”

As they watched Carrie leave, Reggie said, “What was that about?”

Julie shrugged. “Not sure, but she seemed genuine. I know she was at the Orpheum, she hasn’t really said anything to me since then. Wonder what changed.”

“Uh,” Alex began, gesturing between himself, Luke, and Reggie. “ _We have._ Most of your classmates were half-convinced we didn’t exist at all or we were robots or something, they probably have questions.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Julie replied, still sounding doubtful. “I’ll let you guys know what happens—”

“Julie!”

She turned around to see Nick, who was waving as he approached her. Julie grinned widely. Luke scowled. Nick gave a friendly smile to the rest of the band, but it faltered when he saw the way Luke was glaring at him. Reggie elbowed Luke, and Luke looked away.

Julie turned to her friends, saying, “Sorry guys, I was gonna work on a project with Nick for our science class. Can you find your way to lunch on your own?”

Luke opened his mouth to object, but Alex cut him off. “Sure thing, Jules! We’ll catch you later.” Before Luke could say anything at all, Alex grabbed him by the arm and dragged him down the hall.

“Why did you do that?” Luke hissed once they rounded the corner, swatting Alex’s hand off of him. 

“Dude, I know you think Nick has a crush on Julie—”

“He _does_ have a crush on Julie,” he corrected bitterly.

“—But you can’t be that cold to him,” Alex continued with a glare. “He’s Julie’s friend.” Luke rolled his eyes. “Trying to scare Nick off will just push her further away.”

Luke’s eyes softened. “I know. I just got jealous, I guess.”

“We’ve been over this,” Reggie said softly. “We’re still dead, Luke. What would the future even be like for you guys? Just because people can touch us now, it doesn’t mean we can suddenly age. What would Julie’s life be like, if you were together for five years, or ten? You’ll still be seventeen.”

Luke was quiet for a moment. “How long will the band last, do you think? If you’re right, and we aren’t going to age... in ten years, we’re going to look the same, and she isn’t. People know we exist now, how would we be able to cover that up? We can’t play the hologram angle forever.”

“...I just realized that this was always going to be temporary,” Alex whispered. “How long will we be able to do this before people notice? Five years, maybe?”

“How many albums is that?” Luke continued sadly. “Then we’ll have to say the band broke up or something. We can’t be thirty looking like we’re still teenagers, people would figure us out.”

“I think we just need to focus on the now,” Reggie interrupted, looking down. “For now, what’s best for Julie is to consider what she wants. She seems to want Nick. Let’s leave it at that.”

“Yeah. I guess she does,” Luke breathed out. “Let’s just... get to lunch.”

They turned the corner to go to the cafeteria, but Carrie was blocking the way. 

“Not now, Wilson,” Luke spoke, resigned.

She moved with them when Luke tried to sidestep her. She took a few steps closer, staring them down. “I know what you are. I know _Julie_ knows what you are. I just don’t know what you’re doing here.”

The boys froze and exchanged worried looks, before Reggie laughed nervously. “Whaaat? That’s... crazy. You have crazy ideas.”

“Spare me,” Carrie scoffed. She reached into her backpack and pulled out the Sunset Curve demo that only a dozen people had gotten before they died. “I was at the Orpheum with my dad that night. You don’t even _know_ how freaked he was. I found this later, when he was going through some of his stuff and mumbling about ghosts. It wasn’t hard to put together the pieces.” 

Luke felt his whole body twitch. So much for keeping up their act for a few more years. Seems like they didn’t even have a few more _minutes._

“What do you want, Carrie? Why tell us this?” Luke demanded.

She shrugged. “I don’t want anything. I just need to talk to Julie about... all this. As much as my dad probably did you guys dirty and that’s why you broke into our house — oh, don’t look shocked, he figured it out and so did I, once I realized Julie knew your little secret too, there’s no other reason she would’ve shown up at my house. I wanted to talk to Julie about setting up a meeting, for all of you guys and my dad. Get some closure.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sure, we would just _love_ to help your darling dad get closure after he stole from us. Right, boys?” When there was no answer, he turned to look at Reggie and Alex. “Boys?”

Reggie looked away, and Alex absentmindedly adjusted the strap of his fanny pack across his chest. “I don’t know, Luke,” Alex began. “I think closure would be good for all of us. Besides, maybe he can help us with... all this. No guarantees, but still. He’s been in the business for a while.”

“I should be more upset that you’re only considering helping my dad because of his connections, but it’s true,” Carrie responded disapprovingly. She looked down then back up after she had gathered herself. “He does want to make things right. I’ve figured out that much. He’d probably do whatever you asked.”

“...Would he now?” Luke inquired, his mind racing.

“Just tell Julie to call me after school so we can set something up, alright?” Carrie huffed, before turning on her heel and strutting down the hall.

“So. Julie’s ex-friend, current enemy, and our former bandmate’s daughter, knows that we’re dead,” Alex summarized. “This could be an issue.”

Luke growled as he leaned harshly against the lockers, the noise echoing off the walls, before sinking down onto the floor to glower at the floor and avoid his friends’ eyes. “A pretty big one, too.”

Somehow, without even looking up, Luke knew that Reggie and Alex saw right through him; they both knew he wasn’t talking about Carrie — it was about Julie.

**Author's Note:**

> honestly this turned out a little more angsty than i expected it to but that's just how it be sometimes, especially since i've been in a depressive episode for a while.  
> anyways, @odd_izzy commented and gave the idea of the boys saying they were foreign exchange students from canada, which i thought was hilarious.  
> feel free to comment any tropes you'd like me to include, and please let me know your thoughts, they keep me going lol  
> xo,  
> tay


End file.
